Adjustable timer



March 25, 1941. M. IRELAND 2,236,405

' ADJUSTABLE TIMER Filed Jan. 19,-1e4o s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR /yURRAY [REL AND ATTORNEY M. IRELAND 2,236,405

ADJUSTABLE '1 IMER March 25, 1941.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 19, 1940 -/2 INVENTOR /63 7 25' 9 MURRAY/REL AND March 25, 1941. M. IRELAND 2,236,405

ADJUSTABLE TIMER Filed'Ja n. 19, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 Patented Mar. 25, Y 3

PATENT orrics resales anws'rnnm 'mma Murray Ireland, n... asalgnor to a... Gra'w Electric Company, Elgin, Ill, corporation of Delaware Application January 19, 1940, Serial No. 314,021"- Myinvention relates to mechanical timers and particularly to means for selectively varying the normal speed of operation thereof. 7

An object of my invention is to provide a variable speed .mechanical timer mounted on a heat treating appliance or on a toaster, with means for selectively increasing or decreasingvthe speed of operation thereof for a heat treating or a toastingoperatiori.

Another object of my invention is to provide an adjulable speed timer mounted on a toaster.

with means controlled by aknob effecting initiation of a toasting operation, for causing the speed of operation of the timer to be selectively varied is from itsnormal setting-after thetimer has been in the course of such description and more particularly set forth in the appended claims. A In toasters equipped with adjustable mechanical timing devices it is customary to provide a manually operable knob to adjust the timer so that when the knob is in one extreme position darlr toast is produced, and when the knob. is in the other extreme position, light toast is produced and obviously with the knob in intermediate positions, any degree of toasting between these extremes is obtained. A user of such a toaster will, after a few trials, set-the knob at a position where toasting of a degree satisfactory to, him is obtained. However, a second userwishing darker or lighter toasting will change this setting resulting in inconvenience to the first user or to other users who will have to again readjust the knob. My invention overcomes this by providing-a means whereby the ad user can selectively adjust the timer for light or dark toast without interference with. the first users setting."

In the dras, s

s -1 is a front elevational view, on a reuced scale, of a toaster embodying my inveni tion,

Fig. 2 is a View in side elevation thereof, Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. l. but showing the actuating knob in operating pontion and turned in one directionrto vary the duration of operation from the normal,

line 4-4 of Fig. 7, v

, taken on'the line I 1-4 i of Fig. 9,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing the timer main mechanism, the viewbeing taken on the Fig. 5 is a view of the parts shown in Fig.4

andtak'en on the line H of F18. 4, i

.Fig. 6 isa horizontalsectional view of" parts of the toaster and taken on the line 8-4 of Fla. '1,

Fig. 7 is a front view of a mechanism chamber of a toaster, taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 10, 10

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing auxiliary controlling timer elements in toasting position and adjusted fonnormal speed operation. v

Fig. 9 is afragmentary view substantially the 16 sameas Fig. 8 but showing the auxiliary timer controlling elements in positions after the timer has been adjusted to other than itsv normalopersting speed,

Fig. 10 is a view in vertical side-elevation taken 20 on the line ili0 of Fig. 7 and showing all parts in nonetoasting position substantially th same as illustrated in P18. 7. Fig. 11 'is a fragmentary view in section and Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional .view taken ontheline lZ-liofli'igfll' I Fig. 13 is a diagram of connections for the main heating elementsand the main control switch, so

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary view taken on the line i i-l4 of Fig. '7, and Y Flg. 15 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 10 but showing parts in toasting position similar to Fig. 8 of the drawings. .85

I have elected to illustrate a toaster desig nated generally by 2 i which toaster may include a moulded composition skeleton frame 23 having a base plate 25 suitably secured against a top surface thereof. A casing 21 includes front, rear 4p and ,side walls. The casing 21 is open at its-bottom and at its top and may have its lower edges secured against the bottom plate 25 in a man-, ner well known inthe art and not shown in the drawings. A cover 29 closes the otherwise open 45 top of the casing 21, all in a manner well known :intheart.

. heating elements 3|, each pair of planar vertically-extending heating elements being spaced apart to receive therenetween a slice of bread which is to be" toasted. Each of these heating elements includes one'or more piecesof mica 31 on which is mounted or wrapped a resistor I strip 35, all in a manner well known in the art and reference may be had to Ireland Patent No. 2,001,362 for further details as to a toaster of this general structure.

The toaster structure includes further a rear intermediate sheet metal wall 31 and a front intermediate sheet metal wall 39, which front and rear walls may be held at their-bottom edges against the base plate 25 in any suitable or de-' sired manner while their top edges may partly,

through which slices of bread may be put into the.

toasting chamber and removed therefrom when toasted.

Means for controlling the duration of a toasting operation may include a variable or adjustable-speed mechanical timer 45 of the kind more particularly disclosed and claimed in my Patent mechanically connected with the carriage 55 by the cross bar 55. p

The carriage 55 has secured thereto a forwardly-extending rod 53 which rod extends outwardly through a slot in the front wall of the casing 21 and has mounted thereon a knob 55 so that an operator may press downwardly on the knob and move the carriage and other parts connected thereto and to be described hereinafter, into a lower position where the bread carriers 5! will be in what is usually called their toasting positions.

Guide or guard rods 01 of the usual kind may be suspended from the top frame plates ll and slidably interilt with the carriers 5|, being positioned between the heating element and a slice of bread located on a carrier to hold a slice of No. 1,866,808 although not limited to the particular details of construction disclosed and claimed in this patent. As set forth in my Patent No. 1,866,808, atimer of this kind may be provided with a speed adjusting. knob 41 mounted on a shaft 49 which shaft extends into the timer casing and is connected to the timer mechanism in such manrier that turning the knob 41 in one direction will vary the timer mechanism to cause it to operate at a lower speed, while turning the knob in the opposite direction will vary the timer mechanism to cause it to operate at a higher speed. Reference maybe had to Patent No. 1,866,808 for the precise manner in which turning movement of the adjusting knob will cause a change in the speed of operation of the tiiner and therefore a change in the duration of a toasting operation.

In order to provide means whereby an operator may initiate a toasting operation, I provide a pair of vertical standards 5|, the lower ends of which interflt with the base plate 25 while the upper ends thereof may interflt with front end portions of the top frame plates 4| and abar 53 may be provided to increase the rigidity of the structure, the upper-ends of the standards extending through openings in bar 53.

A carriage plate 55 is slidably mounted on the two standards 5! and may be moved vertically upwardly'and downwardly, being biased to an upper or non-toasting position by a coil spring 51.- the lower end of which is connected to a cross bar 59 connected to rearwardly-ext'ending portions of the carriage 55, while the ,upper end of the coil spring 51 may be connected to the bar 53. Bread carriers 6|, equal in number to the number 'of pairs of heating elements, have rear and front end portions extending through the rear intermediate wall I! and the front intermediate wall 35, with the front end portions connected to the rearwardly-extending parts of the carriag'e'iii to which cross bar 58 is attached, the construction being such that the carriers ii are bread in substantially central position between the spaced pair of heating elements effecting toasting of the slice of bread by high temperature radiant heat.

The timer 5 is provided with a spring 69 mounted on an arbor 1| extending through the timer casing and having a pinion 13 mounted thereon at the side of the timer opposite to that against which spring 55 is located. A rack bar I5 meshes with the pinion l3 and is maintained in meshing engagement therewith by a grooved roller I1, all in a manner set forth in my Patent No. 1,866,808. The timer 45 has mounted thereon a detent lever arm I! pivotally supported on a pivot pin Ii near the lower end of arm 19, a small spring 53 biasing lever arm 19 in a counterclockwise direction. A laterally-extending pin is mounted on the upper end of arm 19 for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth. The timer 45 has also mounted thereon on the same side on which detent lever arm 15 is mounted, a pin 81 near the bottom end of the timer for a purpose to be hereinafter mentioned.

As it is desired that the timer be wound when an operator moves knob 55 and the parts connected therewith downwardly, I provide a bracket 89, of L-shape,secured to the carriage 55, the main portion ll of the bracket 05 extending substantially longitudinally of the toaster closely adjacent to the right-hand vertical standard and to the right or outside of this standard. The portion 95 is provided with a vertical slot Si in which there is movably mounted an assembly consisting of a short vertically-extending plate 93 on one side of the member and a second short plate 55 positioned on the other side of portion 90, these two plates being connected by a pin 51 located therein adjacent the upper end of the two plates. The shape of plate 93 is substantially rectangular and is shown as having a flat upper 'end and a rounded lower end. Plate has a forwardly-extending portion 09 which provides a cam surface IOI which cam surface is adapted to engage the pin 85 on detent 19 under certain operating conditions to be hereinafter described. The lower ends of plates 83 and 95 have extending therethrough a pin J03 secured to the lower end of rack bar 15 so that the two plates 93 and 95 will move the rack bar I5 down when an operator presses on knob 55 by means to be hereinafter described. When the rack bar is moved upwardly by the timer during its running-down operation. cam surface I" will be moved into engagement with pin 55 on detent lever arm II at substantially the end of the operating period of the timer, to cause arm I! to turn slightly in a clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 4 of the drawsom ings, to cause disengagement of its lower from a projection Ill secured to or a part of the lower right-hand edge portion of carriage ll. When the operator moves the knob ll downwardly' as far asit can be made to move, projection I05 will ride over an edge portion of detent lever arm I8 and then under its lower edge to be held, there during a toasting operation and until released therefrom as hereinbefore described. The timer to vmay be held in its proper operative position against the front intermediate wall ll by a bracket II" in a manner now well known in the art.

A vertical plate I09 is located between the front intermediate wall I9 and the front wall of the casing 21. Its upper end is relatively 'nar- A horizontally movable timer-adjusting plate,

H8 is supported by the portion III hereinbefore described, on a' pair of spaced pins III which pins are fixed in member Ill and extend through slots I2lin plate Ill, there being provided a rear holding plate Ill held by the rivet pins I2I so that plate IIl may be moved horizontally relatively .to the fixed plate Ill and particularly relatively to its lower portion Ill. The upper edge of the right-hand portion of plate H9 is provided with teeth III for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth.

Plate I19 is normally locked in a given posi- 49 tion relatively to itssupporting plate Ill as by a small vertically-extending locking plate f2! which fits into a slot in thelower-edge of a portion II3 and into slots in the lower :edges of plates H9 and I25. The small plate I" is held in locking position by a short leaf spring "I which is secured to a small lug- Ill constituting a part of plate Ill at its right-hand edge.

The shaft 63 has mounted thereon immedithe knob as and shaft s: and only when pin. m has been moved far enough downwardly to enter or bepositioned in the triangular slot or aperture-Ill will it be P sible to vturn arm Ill. I The plate 8- is provided at its upper-end with two spaced arms Ill which arespaced apart by a slot Ill which slot normally is aligned with slot III, the length of the armsill being such that they extend above the upper end-of aperture 5 as shown more particularly in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings. when not ll has been 1 Q pressed downwardlyto its full extent so that pro- .jection I05 on carriage ll has been moved under 7 I I the detent leverarmll, the lower end of arm I35 will have engaged the upper surface of lock plate;iit'll and will have moved it downwardly 7.5 asis shown more particularly in Fig. 8 of the end upper end, this pin normally drawings so that lock plate Ill no longer holds-,. r plate III in its normally fixed initial position.

Means for ,,causing winding up of'the timer spring 7 ll includes a lever arm Ill pivotally ;mounted on and near the top of bracket portion ll as by a pivot'pin ill, the arm. Ill being biased in a colmter-clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 4 of the drawings, by a small spring I ll. Arm Ill is provided with a lug ill of triangu lar shape at one edge orside thereof intermediate its ends and the lower end of arm Ill is provided with the angular extending cam surface Ill. When the operator has moved the knob ll downwardly to the full extent, cam surface Ill on arm Ill will haveengaged fixed pin ll and arm Ill will have been turned\ slightly in a clockwise direction so that lug Ill is disengaged from plate ll bymeans of which engagement rack bar II was caused to move downwardly and wind the timer. The timer is now .free to 20 unwind with consequent slow upwardmovement of the rack bar and of the small plates-ll and ll mechanically connected therewith as has hereinbefore been described. when cam surface I lI engages and turns lever arm the as bread carriers are released from their latched position and spring ll causes upward movement thereof totermlnate thetoasting operation.

Assuming that-the timer was adjusted to some desired speed of operation by means of the knob 41 and that the degree of toasting effected by such adjusted timer was theone desired by the I present operator, no turning of the knob to vary the duration of a toasting operation was necessary. If, however. an operator should desire a different degree of toasting, either more or less than that for which the timer is normally and initially set by the knob 41,- the operator would cause a turning movement of the knob ll to-io say the position shown in 3 of the drawings. Since pin Ill was moved into slot I in plate Ill, any turning. movement of knob ll whereby, I for instance, sl aftll isturned in a clockwise direction, would cause movement of plate II! 45 to the left as shown more particularly in Fig. 9 of the drawings, pin Ill striking or engaging the left-hand wall of aperture Ill as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings. provided the operator causes suillcient turningjm vement of the knob. It is assumed that the operator will usually of normally cause such a degree of turning movement althoughit is obvious that a lesser degree of change of toasting effect can be obtained by a lesser turning movement or. the knobv and of the parts connected movement of plate III.

The upper edge of'the right-hand end por-- tion of Plate Ill which-has the teeth Ill therein meshes with an intermediate pinion Ill rotatably supported by a pin Ill fixed in plate portion m. T i intermediate pinion in meshes. with a pinion I" mounted on shaft 49 on which adiusting' khoh 41. is mounted. Pinion Ill is, loosely mounted on shaft ll --and is pressedv against a'pressure disk or plate Ill fixed on; shaft ll by, a spring IlI, the construction being such that the knob 41 fixed on shaft ll causes turning movement of the shaft and causesturning movement of pinion I" through the pressure plate Ill as hereinbefore described. It is ,thus evident that if the operator tumsknob ll to manually adjust the initial speed of the timer, he is permitted to do so :even though pinion Ill is in mesh with pinion Ill, and is locked in a therewith which cause given position because of its meshin engagement with normally locked plate Ill. It isobvious, however, that if plate III is moved in either the left-hand or the right-hand direction, as hereinbefore described, pinion Ill and pinion Ill will be turned and the speed adJusting member normally operated by knob 41 will be operated in the desired direction and to the desired degree. I

It is also necessary that further movement of the timer speed adjusting means be prevented, in a given direction, by the turning of the knob 85, it turning of the knob ll has moved the timer speed adjusting means to either extreme position. To this eflect I provide two diametrally-extending lugs I63 and I65 on pressure disk It! and while these are shown as having diametrally spaced front flat edges, they may be located at another angle peripherally relatively to each other but since the extreme turning movement of knob 41 is through substantially only the two lugs I63 and I65 are made to extend substantially diametrally to each other as regards their front fiat edges. A link I61, of substantially L-shape, is pivotally mounted on a small locking plate 159, which locking plate is pivotally mounted on plate Illl as by a pin I10, 9. small spring Ill pressing the hook end of member lil against the peripheral surface of disk I59. A leaf spring I13 having one end mounted on an intermediate portion of plate I09 interfits with a part of plate I69 to maintain it in substantially the position shown in Fig. '7 of the drawings. Should an operator turn knob 41 in a clockwise direction to such an extent that lug I63 engages the inner face of the hook end of'link I61, plate ll! will be turned in a clockwise direction so that a small lug I" at.

the right-hand edge portion of plate It! will move into-one of the slots of pin ilithereby preventing further turning movement of the pinion I55 in a counter-cldckwise direction and indieating to an operator that he cannot cause further change in the timing of the toaster in a given direction.

A second lug I1! is provided at the leift-hand edge of plate I and if the operator should turn knob 41 in a counter-clockwise direction until the front face of lug I" engaged the outer end of link I61, he would turn plate Its-so that lug lll would enter one of the slots on pinion ll. (see Fig. 9) thereby-preventing turning movement oi pinion I in a clockwise direction by means of the parts hereinbeiore described as connected with shaft 83 andactuable by knob ti when the same is turned,

Let it be assumed tha the operator had turned knob 65 in a clockwise direction after moving it down so that the parts directly associated there-v with were moved to the positions shown in Fig.9 of the drawings and that the auxiliary timer speed adjustment was maintained throughout a cycle of operation. Rack bar "was then moved to its upper position as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the cam surface III had engaged'with pin I! to cause turning movement of the detent lever arm n with the result that carriage it was moved upwardly quickly by spring 81. Pin I" which had been in engagement with the left-hand edge or wall of the triangular aperture III, wasmoved in a counter-clockwisedirection so that shaft 63 was turned in acounter-clockwise direction, .the pin at then entered slot I I and moved upwardly therein to the position shown for instance in Fig.

v or the drawings when all or the parts or the 1| toaster were returned to their normalpositions.

masses The same comments will apply it pin I3! had been moved in a counter-clockwise direction so that it was moved into engagement with the right hand wall of aperture II, in which case pin it! would have been moved to the left, to turn the shaft ll sllghtlyjn a clockwise direction, the pin III then moving straight upwardly in slot 1 I I.

It is thereiore obvious that irrespective of whether the operator turned knob ii in a clockwise or in a counterclockwise direction alter he had initiated a toasting operation by moving the knob ll downwardly to simultaneously wind the variable or adjustable speed timer, and to move the bread carrier into toasting position, return movement of these parts at the end of a toasting operation will returnthe timer to its initial or normal adjustment.

Since it is desirable that the heating elements hereinbeiore described be energized only during a toasting operation, I provide fixed contact members I19 mounted on a plate iii of electric-insulating material which may be secured against base plate It; a contact bridging member I83 being operatively associated with the fixed contact members ill, the bridging member I83 being normally held out of engagement with the contact members I'll by a spring I36. I may mount a small bracket II! at one side oi the carriage 5, which bracket III will engage an upwardly extending lug I" lnsulatedly mounted on bridging member III, the bracket Ill engaging projection I88 and causing downward movement of the bridging member I into engagement with contacts I19, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 oi! the drawings, so that downward movement oi! knob 5 will not only cause winding of the timer, movement or the bread carrier into toasting position, and engagement of projection I05 under the lower end or detent lever 18, but will also'cause closing of the energizing circuit 0! the main heating element.

It is therefore obvious that the device embodying my invention provides a relatively simple means actuated by the timer-winding, carriermoving and switch-closing member to selectively vary the speed setting of the timer, which varied speed setting oi! the timer is nullified at the end of every toasting operation. It is thus possible to obtain three diiierent degrees of toastingieiiect as may be desired by three diflerent operators, one such operator merely pressing down on the knob,-wlthout turning the same after having pressed it downwardly to the full and fixed distance, while the other operators need only press down the knob and then turn it in the one or in the other direction to obtain a loser or a greater degree of toasting.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying my invention wlthout departing from the spirit or scope thereof and I therefore desire that all further modifications coming clearly within the scope of the appended claims are to be considered as being covered thereby.

I claim as my invention;

1. Means !or varying the speed or a variable speed mechanical timer normally adapted to operate at a given speed to control the duration of a heat treating operation, said means including a knob movable in a given direction to efifect winding of the timer and means actuable by the knob only at the end-oi its timer-winding movement for selectively varying the speed of operation of said timer to a higher or to a lower value than said given speed.

2. Means for varying the speed of a variable speed mechanical timer normally operable at a given speed to control the duration of a heat treating operation, said means including a knob movable in a given path to effect winding of the timer and normally locked means operable by selective turning movement of said knob at the end of-said timer-winding movement to change the speed of operation of said timer to a higher or to a lower value than said given speed.

3. Means for varying, the speed of a variable operationof the timer to a higher or to a lower value than said given speed and means to return the speed-adjusting member to its initial position at the end of a heat treating operation.

4. Means for varying the speed of a variable speed mechanical timer including a speed-varying member connected therewith to sheet manual adjustment of the timer to can'se it to onerate at a desired speed to control the duration of operation of a heat treating operation, sci

means comprising a Mob movable through a given distance in one direction to enact winding 1 of the timer, a normally locked means operatlvely connected with said speed-veg mem- A her for actuating it to vary the operating speed of the timer, means connected with thefmob I movable therewith and thereby to engage and release said normally locked means and selectiveiy move it by said knob to cause the timer tonn crate at a lower or at a her speed than said initial'speed d .1 a heat treating operation and means to return the i ag member to its initial position attire end of a heat treating operation. v

5., A device as set forth in cl 1 and including' means'ior causing return otthe knob-acme 'ated speed-varying means to its initial position at theend of a heat treating operation. v

6. Means for or r; the speed of a variable speed mechanical timer having a member connected therewith to sheet manual adjustment oi. the timer to on it to operate at a desired speed to control the duration of. a heattreati operation, said, amen sp=biasedtoanrst able to a second position through a distance to wind said timer, a detent for holding said knob in its second position until released by the timer, a lever arm secured to said knob movable therewith and turnable thereby, means preventing turning 01' said lever arm by said knob 5 until the knob has been moved substantially into its second position, means operatively connected with said speed-varying member engaged. by said lever arm when the knob'is in its second position and selectively operable by turning of the knob inone or the other direction to vary the position of the speed-varying member to, cause the timer to operate at a higher or a lower speed during a heat treating operation and means operatively engaging saidlever arm during the return of the knob to its first position for causing the speed-varying member to be returned to its initial position.

7. A device as set forth in claim 3 and including means controlled by saidspeed-adjusting member for preventing movement-of the means connected to the speed-adjusting. member by the knob when the speed-adjusting member has been moved to a limiting position in one direction.

aalideans forvarying the speed of operation oi an adjustable speed mechanical timer'adapted to operate at a given speed to control the duration of a heat treating operation, and inbinding a speed-adjusting member connected with. the timer to set. its speed to agiven value, said means including a knob moveable through a fined distance in a given direction to wind said i timer and initiate a heat treatingoperation and means actuable by the knob only at the end of its timer-ding movement for cauSingmove-L ment of said speed adjusting timer to selectively'vary the speed of operation of the timer to a higher or to a lower value than said given value. 7

9. Means or varying the'speed oi operation 4cof an adjustable speed mechanical or adapted to operate at a given speed to control the duration oi a heat treating operation, and including 1 a speed-adjusting member connected with the timer to set its speed to a given value. said means inclug a mob movable cash a if: tance in a given direction to d said ter and initiate a heat trting operation, means actuable by the knob only at the end of its 'timer-wingmovement for causing movement. to h of said speed-adiustlng member to'selectively vary the speed of operation of the timer to a higher or to a lower value than said given value and me owrable only at the end of-a heat treating operation for causing return of the so speed-adjusting member to its initlalposition. 

